LAKELAND, FL – Detroit Tigers prospect Josue Briceño will miss time while recovering from right wrist surgery.
Briceño – the Tigers’ consensus No. 4 prospect – underwent surgery Wednesday, March 4, in Philadelphia, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation. The 21-year-old catcher/first baseman ranks as the No. 40 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.
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By Thursday, Briceño had already returned to Lakeland, home of the Tigers’ spring training complex.
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Detroit Tigers first baseman Josue Briceño practices during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Florida, on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
The surgery repaired a tendon in Briceño’s right wrist, which is his throwing hand.
There isn’t an exact timetable for his return.
Briceño reported the wrist injury after hitting Feb. 28 in a spring training game, and by March 1, the Tigers canceled his travel plans to the Dominican Republic for the two-game exhibition series in Santo Domingo.
In six spring games, Briceño hit .167 (2-for-12) with zero walks and one strikeout across 13 plate appearances. He logged 11 innings at first base and six innings at catcher, along with an appearance at designated hitter.
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Once healthy, Briceño – a left-handed hitter – seems ticketed for a return to Double-A Erie in the 2026 season.
In 2025, Briceño hit .232 with five home runs, 25 walks and 47 strikeouts in 45 games at the Double-A level, following an early July promotion from High-A West Michigan. For the SeaWolves, he started 27 games at catcher, 10 at first base and eight at designated hitter.
Back in 2024, he became the first Triple Crown winner in the 32-year history of the Arizona Fall League, hitting .433 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs in 25 games for the Scottsdale Scorpions.
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Briceño must prove he can hit for both contact and power against upper-level pitching in 2026, all while improving defensively behind the plate to avoid a full-time move to first base, where there will be increased expectations for his offense.
But first, Briceño needs to get healthy after wrist surgery.
The Tigers signed Briceño to an $800,000 bonus out of Venezuela as part of the 2022 international signing period.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Josue Briceño injury news as Tigers prospect undergoes wrist surgery